'N Sync

RPF Fandom
Name(s):	★NSYNC
Scope/Focus:	RPF fanfiction written about the musical group 'N Sync (★NSYNC)
Date(s):	band active 1995–2002; fandom active late 1990s - early 2000s
See also:	Backstreet Boys, Popslash
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'N Sync is a boyband composed of Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez, Justin Timberlake and Lance Bass. (The name is also often spelled "★NSYNC"; the group changed the notation of their name partway through their career.) They and Backstreet Boys were the most popular groups in popslash fandom.

History

manip of the band members on Puppies in a Box by Dacey

Fandom

Shipping

• Joshtin: Joshua "JC" Chasez/Justin Timberlake. Also referred to as JuC. Most popular fandom ship, also garnered fans who thought JC and Justin were actually together. Private message boards such as Joshtin's Closet (now defunct) were created to discuss theories and share fanfiction of the two.
• Bassez: Lance Bass/JC Chasez
• Lamblove: Lance Bass/Justin Timberlake. As the youngest and only blonde members of the group, they were referred to as the "lambs."
• TrickC: Chris Kirkpatrick/JC Chasez
• Choey: Chris Kirkpatrick/Joey Fatone
• Timbertrick: Justin Timberlake/Chris Kirkpatrick
• JoeC: Joey Fatone/JC Chasez
• JoLa: Joey Fatone/Lance Bass
• Timbertone: Justin Timberlake/Joey Fatone
• TrickyFish: Chris Kirkpatrick/Lance Bass. The "fish" in the name refers to Lance's surname doubling as the name of a fish.
• Threemanbus: JC Chasez/Chris Kirkpatrick/Justin Timberlake. *NSYNC members shared two tour buses at the height of their success. Joey and Lance were on one, and the other three shared one. Works about what happened on the three-man bus was aptly named that Threemanbus fic.

• Cramp: crack pairing of Chris Kirkpatrick and a lava lamp

Tropes & Memes

• Fine Kirkpatrick Ass
• Sparkly Dance Boys

Example Fanworks

Fanfiction

• Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder by Mickeym and Nopseud: TrickC
• Book of Secrets (Popslash story) by Rhys:
• Flesh Mechanic: "The Justin Timberlake serial killer fic"
• live from the apopalypse an i know it when i see it - the pornutopia by Nopseud
• The Lamb Entreats the Butcher; Where's Thy Knife?: The X-Files crossover
• Not Based on a True Story by Isilya
• Rakes at the Gates of Hell
• The Same Inside
• Talliswood
• The Way You Know Him by Beth and Kaelie

Comments

From Citizens Against Bad Slash: "Most surprisingly good fandom: 'N Sync. Don't laugh until you've read it. Rather than being a bunch of giggling 13 year olds, there are some actual adult women and men who get off on the idea of Justin Timberlake (or Ryan Phillippe, I can never remember which) and friends getting down and dirty with each other. Granted, there are some very young people in the fandom who have yet to master high school English, but on the whole the 'N Sync lists are pretty good reading. Unlike other communities, the 'N Sync world is not packed to the gills with hardcore slashers - most of them seem to be new blood - so the fandom politics are kept to a minimum, at least in most cases, give or take a List Owner God Complex incident. They're also pretty creative. Joey beats up JC in a remote cabin before JC stands in the rain, arms outstretched, and cries out "You care!" Lance has autism and calls JC over to check out the bloody corpse on his couch. This fandom will last as long as the band does. You may now insert your own joke about the shelf life of a boy band here. I present this award to every boy band member who is working that homoerotic chic, which is all of them. Next time you see them on TV, take a good look. They have that look in their eyes like they're longing for a nice big...microphone."

Mailing Lists

The majority of these mailing lists were on Yahoo! Groups and have since gone defunct.

• NSYNC FAN FIC
• NsyncSlashAU
• All For Love (focused on JC/Lance and Justin/Lance)
• AJ-slash-Lance (focused on the BSB/'N Sync crossover pairing of AJ/Lance)
• Joey Chris (focused on the Joey/Chris pairing)
• LanceJCLovin (focused on the Lace/JC pairing)
• JCandJustinSlash (focused in the JC/Justin)

Links & Resources

• owlet's *NSYNC Fandom Primer at squidge.org. This is a basic introduction to the guys and the fandom.
• 'N Sync chronology This chronology is a significant fandom resource, started and maintained by Cressy (canalbaby) on her LiveJournal. The link goes to her memories, which lists all the relevant pages. (Last accessed October, 2008.)
• Fanfiction.net - As of August 2, 2002, NSYNC was the biggest fandom in the music category, with 10893 fics. (RPF was banned in September 2002.)
• fandomination.net - As of July 17, 2007, ★NSYNC had 330 fics. Good Charlotte was the largest subcategory under Musicians, with 4529 fics.
• NSYNC fanworks on AO3, 1236 posted as of 2017.
• NSYNC podfics at the Audiofic Archive (20 as of 2017)
• Popslash Recommendations by Lettergirls
• *NSYNC-Fiction.com fanfiction archive
• NSYNC Shadows fanfiction archive